The Warmth of Friendship
by ANGSWIN
Summary: Hermione and Luna go on an expedition together after they become the best of friends.


Written to serve double duty for the  
**January 2019 HH Roll-A-Drabble**  
1st Roll: Pairing: Hermione & Luna  
2nd Roll: Trope: Huddling for Warmth  
and  
the **2019 Hermione's Haven Bingo**  
Square: G1 - Prompt: Friendship

* * *

**The Warmth of Friendship**

The sound of women's laughter filled the cozy cabin that served as their base camp as Hermione and Luna settled down in front of the fire in their socked feet with large mugs of lightly spiked hot cocoa. The two friends were about halfway through their month long Ministry-sanctioned field excursion and had just been caught out in an unexpected snowfall. Consequently, they were freezing…but they were very happy about their recent successful find and were having way too much fun to really care about something as insignificant as the cold.

…

The friendship between the two women had really blossomed after the war when they had decided to attend their last year at Hogwarts together with Ginny and Neville while Harry and Ron went straight into Auror training. However, Ginny was often busy with Quidditch while Neville spent most of his free time in the greenhouses as he started his Apprenticeship with Professor Sprout. Consequently, Hermione and Luna often found themselves alone together.

However, neither of them minded because even though they had not been really close friends in the past, they soon developed a new appreciation for each other. Hermione realized that Luna was not really as flighty as she had always thought – just a little quirky…and she was truly thrilled to finally have a real study partner in the Ravenclaw. Luna learned that Hermione was only a bossy know-it-all when the other two-thirds of the Golden Trio needed to have their motivation kick-started or their problems solved…and Luna soon found that she truly appreciated both the Gryffindor's boldness _and_ her color-coded study guides.

Hermione and Luna had also both experienced some terrible times during the war - especially at Malfoy Manor. It was a situation that the others could not possibly understand…and the aftermath of those traumatic events brought the two young women even closer together. In fact, Luna always made a point to accompany Hermione to the Hospital wing and even held her hand while the Gryffindor witch braved the painful daily treatments from Madame Pomfrey for the cursed carving on her arm that refused to heal properly. Luna was also her cheerleader, the one who encouraged her reluctant friend – who, unbeknownst to anyone else, was on the verge of an eating disorder - to consume healthy portions of the most nutritious foods available at mealtimes in the now open-seating Great Hall so that she could gain back the weight and strength that she had lost because of her experiences during the year on the run.

On the other hand, Hermione watched out for Luna, as well. In fact, she was the one who secured permission from Headmistress McGonagall for Luna to move into the Gryffindor tower dormitory room that she shared only with Ginny under the vague caveat of "Unforeseen Circumstances" after Luna confessed to having frequent nightmares about her experiences in the Malfoy dungeons. Hermione then became the caregiver who would hold her terrified and trembling friend close in order to warm and calm her whenever Luna slipped into her bed at night for comfort from the memories.

After a while, however, their raw physical and emotional wounds finally began to heal, and what had started out as a tentative connection between acquaintances became firmly sealed as a close friendship. The development was especially gratifying for the two women because neither of them had ever had a _really _close female friend before. Even though it was true that Ginny had always been there for both of them when they needed her, she had always had her own life and her own circle of friends, as well. Therefore, it was no surprise to anyone when the two now-inseparable friends became flatmates after graduation, nor when they both started working at the Ministry's Department of Magical Creatures together (Hermione in the _Beings _division and Luna in the _Beasts_ one). Eventually, they also stood up with each other at their subsequent weddings to Ron and Rolf.

…

Because of their history, Hermione had jumped at the chance when Luna suggested teaming up on an expedition to find the Hooked-Winged Doxie Limpets and/or their close cousins, the Curly-Winged Pixie Limpets – especially since it was such a great crossover for both of their areas of expertise. In addition to that, after all of these years, she no longer doubted Luna's unique ability to see creatures that other people, herself included, could not. In fact, she had complete faith in Luna's gift ever since her friend had given her a special pair of Spectraspecs for Christmas during their last year in Hogwarts and she had finally been able to see for herself indisputable proof of the infamous Nargle infestations in the mistletoe and the elusive confusion-inducing Wrackspurts about which Luna had often spoken. To say that she had been surprised at their actual existence was an understatement. Ironically, however, Hermione was not shocked at all when she also noticed, with the help of her new specs, that Professor Trelawney seemed to be infested by both sets of the creatures wherever she went...nor that the woman did not believe them when they told her so.

…

Once they had made the decision to go, Hermione and Luna carefully planned out their expedition and finally decided on a departure window that included the time period during which Ron had planned a fantasy Quidditch trip with the guys and Rolf had been invited on another excursion with his famous magizoologist grandfather, Newt. Both Ron and Rolf knew that their two strong, capable, and adventurous wives could take care of themselves (and each other) and that they could use some time out in the field away from their stuffy offices. The women understood that their supportive husbands also needed some time with their own friends to pursue their favorite interests, as well. Therefore, it was a win/win situation for everyone involved and Hermione and Luna eagerly set out for their quest with clear consciences and light hearts.

…

The women were still riding high on their discovery of a previously unknown third species of the flying Limpet family that apparently only ventured outside of its burrow during snowfalls. They had immediately dubbed the little creature as a Scalloped-Winged Snow Fairy Limpet. Hermione then took notes on the odd-but-lovely little creature's behavior in order to properly register it with the Department while Luna both sketched and photographed it until their warming charms proved to no be longer effective and their half-frozen hands and feet eventually drove them back inside the cabin where it was warm and dry.

The women enjoyed their time in front of the crackling fire until it eventually died down to embers, but neither Hermione nor Luna seemed to care enough to revive it. They just summoned a few blankets, cast warming charms over them, and wrapped themselves up into cocoons. Then they cuddled together in the platonic way that only the closest of friends can achieve without awkwardness while they giggled like teenagers as their conversation somehow shifted from work and the Limpets into embarrassing stories about bedroom mishaps with their husbands. It would have been clear to any outsider at that moment that they were happy in the cozy warmth of their friendship…and they planned to stay that way for the rest of their lives.


End file.
